Bring It On! 3rd Debate and Already #SheWon

With the last 2016 presidential debate happening tonight, a recap on how the 2nd one went might give a clue to how this one is going to pan out.

First of all, Muslims took to Twitter in droves to mock the GOP Candidate's request in response to a question about how he'd address Islamophobia in the US. He said "We have to be sure that Muslims come in and report when they see something going on. When they see hatred going on, they have to report it." So they did.

Amen to that. Then there was the outrage against the GOP candidate's gloating over his sexual abuse and denying it in ways that only confirmed it. Robert de Niro blasted him.

Ismat Sarah Mangla led me to a friend of hers with this tweet:  

Below is an extract from Derek Steele's Facebook post: 

"Men at times talk like that." - Rudy Giuliani
Caleb and Ethan:

…Men do not, at times, talk like that. Sure some individuals with an X and Y chromosome like you may say something like that, but we do not call them Men. We call them perverts, abusers, or rapists - not Men. Real Men don't do that and wouldn't even think to say that.

You will hear a lot of people tell you what Men do or what it takes to 'be a Man'. The vast majority of it will be total garbage. If you want to be a Man, forget about machoism or sexual conquest. Being a Man is not about that. It's about protecting those around you who are weak or innocent - maybe a child being bullied or your own children. It's being awake at all hours of the night to warm a bottle, change a diaper, change the sheets on a wet bed or even worse. Men get puked on, pooped on, bled on and cried on. It's about being open with someone, vulnerable and accountable. It's admitting your mistakes and failures - in all its ugliness - and seeking forgiveness, over and over and over again. Real Men cry, even weep, when the situation calls for it. They respect, honor and cherish women…

It's tough being a Man. Hardest work you'll ever do. So when someone tries to justify abhorrent words and behavior by sullying your good reputation as a Man - be angry and speak up. Don't let them define you down by their conduct. In short - be a Man.
Sincerely,
Your Dad"

The outrage against Trump was embodied in First Lady Michelle Obama's horrified, impassioned condemnation at a rally for Hillary Clinton in New Hampshire.

"... I have to tell you that I listen to all of this and I feel it so personally, and I’m sure that many of you do too, particularly the women. The shameful comments about our bodies. The disrespect of our ambitions and intellect. The belief that you can do anything you want to a woman. It is cruel. It’s frightening. And the truth is, it hurts. It hurts... "

Women who were abused by Trump long ago started speaking out and evidence against him piled up, reported throughout the US and internationally. From there the already out of control fire in the Trump campaign turned into a humungous conflagration around sexual abuse of women that neither his campaign, his mouthpieces, nor the conflicted, ravaged GOP can control. Politicians scrabbling about frantically to save Congress—forget about the presidency—caught inexorably between a rock and a hard place all of their own making. Now they pull away from the monster that arose out of the environment they nurtured so recklessly? Because they care about women?

I'm with Barack Obama when he called them on the bullshit, speaking at Columbus, Ohio, also for the Hillary Clinton campaign. GOP politicians didn't care about Trump's racism or sexism until enough women rose up en masse, provoked beyond endurance. Women count for a lot of votes. Click here for an edited version (courtesy Egberto Willies).

 

“You claim the mantle of the party of family values, and this is the guy you nominate?” Mr. Obama asked. “And stand by and endorse and campaign with? Until finally at the 11th hour, you withdraw your nomination? You don’t get credit for that.”

The bigot, who could kind of, sort of, be controlled—and it's hard not believe that amphetamines or downers or cocaine or all three played a significant role—became the Unshackled. The truth is that once the pus starts oozing, you can't stop it. He's gone berserk with dark conspiracy theories, turning on the GOP, ranting about rigged elections, a corrupt media, corrupt everybody except himself. Appealing to his base, who don't care that he lies, cons, abuses, who have no mental capacity for discernment and no inner desire to seek it. It's all very satisfying to the candidate, but repulsive to undecided voters, so he's eliminated any possibility of ever winning the election. The more this disgusting creature indulges himself, the greater the possibility, not just of a loss, but of a landslide and Congress actually changing hands.

As Fareed Zakaria said, on GPS, "This week we watched the beginning of the end of one of America's great, illustrious parties. The Republican Party as we know it is dying. Last Sunday's debate may have been the watershed moment."  

So bring on the 3rd debate. Things can only get better for Hillary Clinton and Democrats. I look forward to the day that bigoted GOP politicians spouting trickledown economics to protect vested interests have been relegated to dusty rooms and Evangelicals and bigots in power have faded into obscurity, having gotten drunk on their power and lust to persecute and oppress; overstepped and provoked the majority of women, all the decent men, the LGBT community, minorities and even the international community beyond endurance.

That's where it's going. Slowly, torturously, sure. But inexorably. When Barack Obama was elected, I wrote that it was the start of the Second American Revolution. I wasn't wrong. Revolutions don't all happen overnight. Obama's presidency exposed the racism. Hillary Clinton's campaign has exposed the sexism.

That worst and darkest element of humanity lies under the surface everywhere, but the US's particular brand of democracy has routed it out and has the infrastructure to defeat it. God Bless America. Seriously.